Philosophy Notes on Kant
Kant was part of enlightenment period Morality is entirely determined by what someone wills because a good will is the only thing that is good with out provocations. Every other character trait is only morally good once we qualify it as such. Kant morality is all about what someone wills and not about the end result or consequence is. Someone can be happy but for immoral reasons. Kant it is really the thought that counts. Motivation is everything. What does Bentham and Mills look at consequences and happiness. Kant thinks of these things as matter of riddle in the game of morality. Think of it this way. If we think of someone as our favorite moral hero in past and present because of the various things they did, accomplish, brought about. All you are doing when you admire such people is judging results. What we see. But if we are really judging moral worth on what we see we are then failing to adjudicate moral worth entirely. After all we have no idea what the shop clerks real motives are. Perhaps she is honest because she thinks this is the best way to make money. If this wasn’t her true motivation she may start ripping people off as soon as she could. Think back to what glaucon says. He says it is better to appear to be moral than to really be moral. Kant believes this is a much more comman way of going aobut things that it probably happens most of the time given that many people don’t have moral motivations that we really have no way of knowing what peopole’ motivations are. Perhaps Abraham Lincoln and MLK motivations were not stemmed form good will at all but only for honor, fame or fortune. We simply don’t know. Remember there are many people who were unlucky failed to bring any results even thought they hated good will or moral principles. They are forever unknown they are forever anonymous. He says we should stick to what pure reason tells and tells us it doesn’t care about consequences, doesn’t care about actions, doesn’t care about results. It cares